Well it's official, summer is over :( Our first day back was today (kids start next week). Ryan and I actually planned ahead and cooked a bunch of stuff on Sunday, fully accepting our mid-week laziness. Way too often Tuesday or Wednesday night will roll around and we'll say screw it, let's just get take out. Well the fact we're trying to eat better (and we haven't gotten a paycheck since June) won out, so we're really trying to only eat at home. On Sunday night we cooked a ton (went to BJ's and got a huge package of chicken) of chicken cutlets (sauteed them with a dusting of whole wheat flour, salt, and pepper and then quickly seared them in a hot skillet with a tablespoon of canola oil). Throughout the week we've had different dishes with chicken. Last night we made chicken parm (without the delicious gobs of mozarella, only a little sprinkling and with a small portion of whole wheat pasta), but tonight was one of my absolute favorite Italian-American dishes- chicken marsala. The entire dish from prep to dinner table was about 15 minutes.
For the sauce and chicken:
Turn a skillet on medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add one (small) sliced onion and stir for one minute and then reduce heat to medium-low. Season with salt and pepper. Once onions start to brown (see picture above) add 1 tablespoon minced thyme (we used fresh, but if you use dried, cut amount in half). Once onions are carmelized, add 1 tablespoon flour (we've been using whole wheat and don't really notice a difference in flavor) and stir to get rid of "raw" flour taste. Add 1/2 marsala wine (or sherry or madeira) and turn heat to medium. Once marsala is completely stirred in, add 1/4 cup of chicken stock. Once sauce is boiling, put in cooked chicken cutlets (if you didn't cook chicken ahead of time, cook it before the onions for about 5 minutes per side). Put the lid on the pan and turn heat down to medium-low. Right before serving, add two tablespoons of cream or half and half. Check thickness of sauce (mine was too thick, so I added a dash more of marsala and chicken stock) and add 1 tablespoon each of fresh flat leaf parsley and basil. Serve as is or on top of pasta (we used quinoa because it has a lot more protein and read somewhere that it is healthier than pasta, and actually makes for a delicious side dish!).
It's always hard finding the motivation during the school/work week, but with some planning and prepping ahead of time, hopefully it won't be too hard! One of our goals this year is to eat more at home; we got in bad habits last year of eating out too much. Also, we hope to do more things during the week too (going to the pool, movies, etc.). Happy new school year to all my teacher friends!
PS. 2 1/2 weeks until UF's first game, can't wait!!!
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